With only a surfboard and his bare hands, Cody Martin was able to snag the prized catch of the day — a 40-pound yellowtail.

Last Thursday, in sunny Manhattan Beach California, Cody and his dad Eric saw 100 dolphins playing with a large fish. Instead of trying to eat it, the dolphins appear to be tossing the fish around through a water column.

Since the pair were witnessing the scene from the pier, Cody decided to paddle out to that area to investigate. As the boy approached, the dolphins scattered, leaving the helpless fish to fend for himself.

“I thought, ‘Dinner!’” Cody quipped as he saw the large yellowtail. Using two hands, Cody grabbed the fish by the gills. While the yellowtail tried to escape, the boy was able to wrestle the fish onto his board and paddle to the pier.

“There was a really big crowd,” he recalled. “It was hilarious.”

Cody’s dad, a marine biologist carried the yellowtail on the pier with the help of a rope. And that evening, the Martins had teriyaki fish for dinner.